You read
the book.
Now play
the game.
Inspired by the card-based trading competition described in The Trading Game. Make a market and outsmart the table, just as Gary Stevenson did to win his internship.
Free. Pro is £1.99, once. No ads, no subscription.
A fan-made game. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Gary Stevenson or his publisher.
- 14
- Alice
- Bob
- Carol
- Dave
One hand,
four moves.
Every hand runs the same way. Here is the one above, played through from the deal to the reveal.
-
DealRead the table
Everyone gets one hidden card, and three community cards sit face down in the middle. They are revealed one at a time over four rounds of trading. Add up every card on the table and you get the True Total: that is the number everyone is trading. The deck is −10, 1 to 15, and 20, so a card is worth 7.65 on average.
- −10
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 20
Seventeen cards, adding up to 130.
The tutorial teaches the deck first. Free. -
QuoteMake your market
You hold 14. The seven cards you can't see come from the sixteen left, which average 7.25, so the total should land near 65. Quote a bid, the price you’ll buy at, just under it, and an ask, the price you’ll sell at, just over. The gap between them is your spread: keep it tight and you win trades but carry risk; keep it wide and you stay safe but miss the action.
14 + 7 × 7.25 = 64.75Bid 63 Ask 67 Spread 4
Live trading, the same quote against the clock. Quoting is free; the live mode is Pro. -
TradeBuy, sell or wait
The bots quote too, and each has its own style: Alice reads the odds, Bob bluffs, Carol and Dave take what looks cheap. Anyone can sell at another player’s bid, buy at their ask, or wait. Bob thinks the total is high and buys at your ask. Carol offers to sell at 60, well under your 65, so you buy from her.
- Bob buys from you67
- You buy from Carol60
Turn-by-turn, a different hand. Free. -
SettleTurn the cards
After the last round every hidden card is turned, and each trade settles against the True Total. You sold to Bob above it and bought from Carol below it, so both trades pay.
- 14You
- 3Alice
- 7Bob
- 12Carol
- 8Dave
- 9
- 6
- 4
True Total 63- Sold to Bob at 67+4
- Bought from Carol at 60+3
This hand+7Against a True Total of 63.
Three ways
to take a seat.
Learn it, play a quick table, or climb a career towards the internship.
-
TutorialFree
Bids, asks, spreads and edge in plain language, a step at a time, before you sit at a real table.
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Single GameFree
Set the table yourself: three to seven players, one to three hands, and how sharp each bot plays. A five-minute sharpener.
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CareerFirst two stages free
Four stages, from the first round of a university tournament to The Final on MegaBank’s trading desk, against sharper bots each time. The first two are turn-by-turn; Stage 3 and The Final are live, and come with Pro.
Free to play.
Pro, once.
No ads, no energy timers, no subscription. Pro is a single purchase and it's yours on iPhone and the web.
Free
£0- Single Game, turn-by-turn
- Tutorial
- Career, the first two stages
- On iPhone and in your browser
Pro
£1.99once- Live trading, real-time against the clock
- Career, Stage 3 and The Final
- Pro bots, the sharpest at the table
- One purchase covers iPhone and web. Sign in with Apple to carry it across.
Or play it
in your browser.
The same game and the same bots, with nothing to install and nothing to sign up for. Open it on a laptop and take a seat at a bigger table.
Play in your browser southlondonsilicon.com/marketmaker/app
Before you
download.
-
Yes. Single Game, the Tutorial and the first two career stages are free, with no time limits and no ads.
-
A one-time £1.99 purchase unlocks live trading, the last two career stages (Stage 3 and The Final) and the Pro bots.
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Yes. Buy it on the App Store and it unlocks in your browser; buy it on the web and it unlocks on your iPhone. Sign in with Apple on each so the game can recognise you.
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None. No ads and no waiting for lives to refill. Play as much as you like.
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No. The tutorial teaches bids, asks, spreads and edge in plain language, and most people pick it up in a hand or two.
-
On iPhone, yes. The bots run on your device, so a game needs no connection and no account. Signing in with Apple is only for carrying Pro between iPhone and the web.
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Single Game is a quick table against the bots. Career is a four-stage climb from a university tournament to The Final; the first two stages are free and the last two need Pro. The Tutorial walks you through the basics.
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iPhone, from the App Store, and any modern web browser at southlondonsilicon.com/marketmaker/app. Both are free to play.